The Microbiome Diet: Evolving Past Paleo

January 14, 2015 5:56 PM

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For the past several years, the biggest buzzword in diet has been Paleo. This approach to food supposedly re-creates the way our ancestors ate during the Paleolithic period, before the invention of agriculture. Although there are many different incarnations of Paleo, they all agree on one thing: Human genes evolved when our ancestors were still hunters and gatherers. Therefore, according to the Paleo perspective, our genes have simply not had time to catch up to a diet of grains and legumes.

But our bodies are far more flexible than the Paleo people would lead you to believe. That's because Paleo leaves out a crucial factor in the equation: the microbiome.